1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which an image forming section is disposed in an apparatus main body, a recording-paper discharging section for discharging a recording sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming section, to the outside of the apparatus main body is disposed in an upper portion of the apparatus main body, an intermediate conveying path for conveying a recording sheet from the recording-paper discharging section to an after-treatment unit mounted on the side of the apparatus main body is disposed above the image forming section in an upper portion of the apparatus main body, and a recording-sheet accommodating unit having a recording-paper discharging tray, or a document reading apparatus can be mounted above the apparatus main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with regard to an image forming apparatus, a system provided with a conveying path in a nearly vertical direction is currently becoming mainstream. That is to say, the system comprises an image forming section disposed in a central portion of an apparatus main body, a recording-paper feeding section disposed below the image forming section, and a recording-paper discharging section disposed in an upper portion of the apparatus main body, for discharging a recording sheet (a sheet of paper) which is fed from the recording-paper feeding means to the image forming section, after image formation, wherein the recording sheet is discharged to a recording-paper discharging tray mounted above the apparatus main body in a facedown state where an image-formed face of the recording-paper is placed face down.
The reason why such construction is used is as follows. Since a recording-sheet conveying path can be very short, and moreover, it is possible to open most part of the conveying path only by opening the side face of the apparatus, output time from recording-paper feeding to recording-paper discharging is short, conveying of recording-sheets and coping with a jam can be carried out very easily.
However, on the other hand, it is difficult to mount both an after-treatment unit such as a finisher and a recording-sheet accommodating unit such as a mailbox.
The reason is as follows. The recording-sheet accommodating unit such as a mailbox is mounted above the apparatus main body in general. It, however, is very difficult to make space for mounting the recording-sheet accommodating unit above the apparatus.
In this connection, in order to make it possible to mount both a recording-sheet accommodating unit and an after-treatment unit, there is provided an apparatus which comprises an intermediate conveying path, disposed in an upper portion of an apparatus main body (above an image forming section), for conveying a recording sheet to an after-treatment unit which is mounted on a side of the apparatus main body.
However, even in the apparatus comprising an intermediate conveying path disposed in the upper portion of an apparatus main body, a recording sheet jam occurs in the intermediate conveying path. Therefore, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent publication JP-A 9-301602 (1997), there is proposed an apparatus comprising a swingable conveying path cover disposed on the top face of the apparatus main body, for covering an intermediate conveying path.
Further, there is proposed an apparatus comprising an intermediate conveying path which is disposed so as to be pulled out of an apparatus main body.
The apparatus comprising the conveying path cover disposed so as to be swingable has the following problem. In the case where a recording-paper accommodating unit which has at least one or more recording-paper discharging trays, or a document reading apparatus is mounted above the apparatus main body, the lowermost recording-paper discharging tray hinders the intermediate conveying path cover from swinging and large space for upward swing of the conveying path cover cannot be ensured. Accordingly the intermediate conveying path is difficult of access for coping with a jam.
Further, the apparatus comprising an intermediate conveying path disposed so as to be pulled out of the apparatus main body has the following problem. In the case where a recording sheet jams between the apparatus main body and the intermediate conveying path, that is, between a recording-paper discharging roller of the apparatus main body and a conveying roller of the intermediate conveying path, both ends thereof get caught in the recording-paper discharging roller and a recording-paper feeding roller, so that the intermediate conveying path cannot be pulled out. If the intermediate conveying path is forcefully pulled out, the recording sheet would be broken.
The invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems and an object of the invention is to provide an image forming apparatus comprising a recording-sheet accommodating unit and a document reading apparatus, which are disposed above an apparatus main body thereof and further comprising an intermediate conveying path disposed in an upper portion of the apparatus main body, for conveying a recording sheet on which an image is formed, to an after-treatment unit, which intermediate conveying path enables attachment of the after-treatment unit to the image forming apparatus, wherein a conveying path cover for covering the intermediate conveying path is slidably disposed, whereby a large open space is ensured to cope with a jam, with the result that high workability can be attained.
In order to attain the above object, the invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising an apparatus main body; an image forming section disposed in the apparatus main body; a recording-paper discharging section disposed in an upper portion of the apparatus main body, for discharging a recording sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming section, to an outside of the apparatus main body; and an intermediate conveying path disposed above the image forming section and on, the apparatus main body, for conveying the recording sheet from the recording-paper discharging section to an after-treatment unit to be mounted on a side of the apparatus main body, the apparatus having such a structure that a recording-sheet accommodating unit having a sheet-of-paper discharging tray, or a document reading apparatus is allowed to be mounted above the apparatus main body, and further comprising: a conveying path cover disposed so as to be slidable on a top face of the apparatus main body, for covering the intermediate conveying path.
According to the invention, in the case where a jam occurs in the intermediate conveying path, it is possible to slide the conveying path cover and open the upper portion of the intermediate conveying path without being obstructed by the recording-sheet accommodating unit or the document reading apparatus mounted above the apparatus main body. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a large open space (working space) on the top face of the intermediate conveying path, to cope with a jam with ease and enhanced workability.
In the image forming apparatus of the invention it is preferable that the conveying path cover is divided into two or more and disposed so as to be slidable in a recording-sheet conveying direction in the intermediate conveying path.
According to the invention, in the case where the recording-sheet: accommodating unit is mounted above the apparatus main body, the recording-paper discharging tray of the recording-sheet accommodating unit is inclined upward on the downstream side in a recording-sheet discharging direction in the recording-sheet accommodating unit. Therefore, by sliding the conveying path cover in the recording-sheet conveying direction, it is possible to obtain a large open space (working space) above the intermediate conveying path, to cope with a jam with ease and enhanced workability.
In the image forming apparatus of the invention it is preferable that the conveying path cover is divided in two or more and disposed so as to be slidable in a direction orthogonal to the recording-sheet conveying direction.
According to the invention, in the case where the document reading apparatus is mounted above the apparatus main body, a gap between the apparatus main body and the document reading apparatus is uniform regardless of recording-sheet conveying direction. Therefore, by sliding the conveying path cover in the direction orthogonal to the recording-sheet conveying direction, it is possible to open the intermediate conveying path on the front side of the apparatus main body, to cope with a jam with ease and enhanced workability.
The invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising an apparatus main body; an image forming section disposed in the apparatus main body; a recording-paper discharging section disposed in an upper portion of the apparatus main body, for discharging a recording sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming section, to an outside of the apparatus main body; and an intermediate conveying path disposed above the image forming section and on the apparatus main body, for conveying the recording sheet from the recording-paper discharging section to an after-treatment unit to be mounted on a side of the apparatus main body, the apparatus having such a structure that a recording-sheet accommodating unit having a sheet-of-paper discharging tray, or a document reading apparatus is allowed to be mounted above the apparatus main body, and further comprising: a conveying path cover disposed so as to be slidable on a top face and front face of the apparatus main body, for covering at least part of the intermediate conveying path.
According to the invention, by sliding the conveying path cover, it is possible to open a part of the intermediate conveying path on the top face and front face of the apparatus main body to obtain a large open space (working space). Moreover, since the front side of the intermediate conveying path is opened even in the case where a gap between the recording-sheet accommodating unit or document reading apparatus mounted above the apparatus main body is very small, it is possible to cope with a jam with ease and enhanced workability.
In the image forming apparatus of the invention it is preferable that at least part of the conveying path cover comprises a transparent member.
According to the invention, it is possible to visually check a state of conveying a recording sheet in the intermediate conveying path. Therefore, it is possible to cope with a jam after checking a jamming position in the intermediate conveying path, with enhanced workability.